The first ever Ebola vaccine is a step closer to becoming a reality following successful Phase 1 human trials, medical researchers have said, but warned it will still take several months before it can be used in the field.

"The unprecedented scale of the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa has intensified efforts to develop safe and effective vaccines," said Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, according to AFP. The institute is developing the vaccine alongside GlaxoSmithKline.

Hopes are that the vaccine will be able to play a role in ending the largest outbreak of Ebola in history, which has killed nearly 5,700 people in West Africa. The research could also be critically important in preventing future outbreaks. more >>

Roma Downey shared an amazing photo of a cross formed by clouds in the sky above the set of her new television series "A.D." on Friday.

The "Touched By an Angel" star and her husband, Mark Burnett, are executive producers of "A.D.," which will premiere on NBC Easter Sunday. The couple were filming their original NBC event series in Morocco when an unbelievable sight stopped production in its tracks.

"On the 'A.D.' set this week we were filming Peter and John in front of the Sanhedrin. … When Adam Levy (who plays Peter), turned to Babou Ceesay (who is playing John), and pointed to the sky directly overhead, there they could see clouds had formed in a complete blue sky in the perfect shape of a cross," Downey said in a statement this week. more >>

Catholic doctors in Kenya are claiming that a tetanus vaccine being administered by two United Nations humanitarian aid organizations on Kenyan women is acting as a cover-up for a mass sterilization effort, which could have already affected over a million women and could affect over a million more.

The Kenya Catholic Doctors Association released a statement recently indicating that the association had found traces of an antifertility agent in tetanus vaccinations that have been administered by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Kenyan females aged 14 to 49 since October 2013.

The Catholic doctors claim that the vaccination project, which is also sponsored by the Kenyan government, has already been administered to over one million women, and ultimately targets 1.3 million more women, in what the association claims is really a population control campaign. more >>

The U.S. State Department confirmed Thursday that it's transporting an Ebola patient from Sierra Leone to Nebraska for life-saving treatment.

Dr. Martin Salia, a citizen of Sierra Leone who's also a legal permanent U.S. resident, was diagnosed with Ebola on Monday.

Salia, a 44-year-old surgeon, had been working at Kissy United Methodist Hospital in the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown, and is reportedly in stable condition. According to The Associated Press, he will be flown to the U.S. for treatment on Saturday. more >>

The Nigerian army has claimed a rare victory over terror group Boko Haram with news that it has recaptured the northeastern town of Mubi. The Islamic militants, however, have in turn raided the town of Chibok, where in April they kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls and later sold them off.

BBC News reported that residents in Mubi have seen an unspecified amount of bodies belonging to the terror group in the town. The Nigerian army has said that Mubi, along with several other villages in the area, are being successfully recaptured from Boko Haram's control.

The militants apparently renamed Mubi as the "city of Islam" in October. The jihadis reportedly implemented Sharia Law on the people, and carried out executions and amputations as punishments. more >>

In June and July of 2013, Tahrir Square became a place where history was made. This Cairo, Egypt landmark housed the largest outpouring of protest against the radical Jihadist agenda in the Middle East, with estimates of over 20 million people protesting the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood. The loss of power for the Muslim Brotherhood brought repercussions to Egyptian Christians, both Coptic and evangelical, as the Brotherhood sought to both appeal for support among Islamic radicals, and punish Christians for speaking out against the brutality of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hundreds of churches were burned to the ground, homes and businesses were attacked and many Christians lost their lives.

As CEO of Open Doors USA, I have the privilege of regularly interacting with heroes of the faith, people who have suffered great persecution. I often meet people who have lost their entire families, businesses and homes, simply because they choose to be followers of Jesus. I was in Tahrir Square last January when Egyptians voted to adopt the new constitution and chart a path away from the rule of Islamic Jihadists. I watched as the Brotherhood demonstrated with violence, desperately trying to hold on to their death-grip of power over Egyptians. And I watched as Christians were targeted for brutality.

But just days ago, I returned again from Egypt. What I saw this time was a Church that has grown strong in spite of the horrendous difficulties that it faces. I saw Christians, both Coptic and evangelical, who have come to understand they must seek a common path together in faith. These are important first steps. What I saw was the first steps in the rebuilding of an Egyptian Christian Church focused on the saving grace of Jesus. more >>